Measles isn’t just a bad cold and a rash. It can be dangerous for babies and young children. An unvaccinated child has died of measles in Texas, the first associated with the recent outbreak in the western part of the state.  More than 100 people have been affected, and it has now spread to other states.  Unvaccinated adults can get measles.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to humans. The CDC says that one infected patient can spread measles to nine out of 10 close contacts. 

If you have measles, up to 90 percent of those people close to you who are not immune will also become infected.

An infected person can spread measles to others even before knowing they have the disease. You can spread measles to others from four days before through four days after the rash appears.

Seven to 14 days after contracting measles, the symptoms begin: high fever (may spike to 104 degrees Fahrenheit); cough; runny nose; and red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis).

In two to three days, white patches called Koplik spots might appear in the mouth.

The rash begins three to five days after the symptoms begin. 

Complications from measles occur in one out of every 10 children. Those more likely to suffer from measles complications are children under five years of age, adults over 20 years of age, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems.

Common complications from measles include otitis media, bronchopneumonia, laryngotracheobronchitis and diarrhea.

Even in previously healthy children, measles can cause serious illness that requires hospitalization.

Some might suffer from severe complications such as pneumonia and encephalitis.

One to three out of every 1,000 children who become infected with measles will die from respiratory and neurologic complications.

About one in five unvaccinated people in the U.S. who get measles is hospitalized.

As many as one out of every 20 children with measles gets pneumonia, the most common cause of death from measles in young children.

One child out of 1,000 who gets measles will develop a swelling of the brain (encephalitis), which can lead to convulsions and leave the child deaf or with intellectual disability.

Swelling of the brain, called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSBE), can begin seven to 10 years after a person has had measles, even though the person seems to have fully recovered from the illness.

In the last big resurgence of measles in the U.S., from 1989 to 1991, seven to 11 out of 100,000 patients were estimated to be at risk for developing SSBE.

From what we’ve heard from the Texas Health Department, none of those who contracted the measles virus were vaccinated. The only way to protect adults and children is by vaccination.

No one needs to suffer or die from a disease that is preventable by vaccination.

Michael Kossove is professor emeritus and adjunct professor of microbiology, Touro University, School of Health Science.